Reminisce
by microlm
Summary: An old man wandered the streets alone. Oneshot.


A/N: I guess you could call it a companion-fic to Finale. Haha, I seem to do these sorts of fics a lot.

Disclaimer: All characters belong to Matsui Yusei. However, 'suicide centers' are from a Kurt Vonnegut short story and the 'psychic probe' and references to settler/Spacer planets from Isaac Asimov's books.

-Reminisce-

_Tell the next in line that my place is open._

Insane. Insane.

Why would someone such as he go _there_ of all places? At now of all times? He would die this time, the fool, without a doubt!

Insane. Insane.

But then again, he always was crazy.

'The Mad One', that's what everyone called him. Well, that or 'Most Intelligent One' or 'Foolish One'. Contradictory to be sure, but accurate. Still, for someone that smart, this had to be the most idiotic, insane thing he had done yet!

Insane. Insane.

He expected the servant to tell the Court. He (she?) gulped. That could _not_ end well.

* * *

An old man wandered the streets alone.

His clothing was immaculate and stiffly formal, yet also strangely flamboyant, contrasting with his snowy white hair (which was adorned flamboyantly as well). He walked steadily, confidently—truth be told, it might as well have been called a saunter—yet despite that, he carried a cane. No, truly _carried_ the cane, as though it was a decoration, not a necessity. It even looked decorative, with its bony body topped with a golden bird-head.

The crowds bustled by, most barely paying enough attention to the old man to avoid walking into him (being much too preoccupied on their head-phones). Those who did see him stared. Someone that old was rare and had to be rich.

A girl sitting on the steps of a crumbling house nudged at her friends. The gang smirked: an easy target.

Their self-proclaimed leader, a girl with stiff hair swaggered up to the old man, followed closely by her friends, each walking in a similarly arrogant manner.

The old man continued walking, not paying any attention to the gang following him. The crowds hurried by even faster, paying the utmost attention to the gang following the old man. Muggings were all too common and who knew what would happen if one tried to help? Well, no, they knew what would happen. The gang would eye-snap a photo and transmit the image to the minds of other gang members in their massive network. Then, the helper would be a prime target. Nonetheless, a few among the crowd slowed down to keep close behind the soon-to-be victim, ready to at least call for an ambulance should the need arise.

"Oi, old man," the stiff-haired girl called.

The old man continued to walk.

The girl smiled and turned to the gang. "Look at this," she said, gesturing to the old man, "Gramps must be a little deaf." The girl walked faster until she was almost walking right into him. "Can you hear me now, old man?"

The old man continued to walk.

The gang snickered. It was fun when someone tried to resist in little ways like this. The girl shook her head with mock sadness. "Come on now, gramps. Its not like I want to do it the hard way." She pulled out a thin black hilt and flicked on the cutting laser edge. Just to show off, she adjusted the light settings until the laser was just _barely_ touching the old man's back. "So why doncha stop for chat?"

The old man stopped walking.

The girl smirked. "Now turn around—"

"Don't speak to me with that tone of voice, worm," the old man said calmly.

Automatically, the girl recoiled. There was something funny about this guy…

"What's wrong, Washio?" a boy taunted. "Don't tell me yer feelin' guilty enough about this to let the old guy push you around."

The girl bristled. This was ridiculous! How many had she demolished as she made her way to the top? It was just an old man! The smirk was forced back onto her face.

The old man had turned around. He gazed at the gang coolly, without much interest, but with plenty of disdain. "Well? What?"

"You can start by givin' us your number," she replied, trying to fight off that nagging instinct that she should run from this person. Her gang, not noticing anything out of the ordinary, began to circle around the old man.

"Number?"

"Don't play dumb," a boy said, openly fingering his flint knuckles. "Yer life number. Everyone's got one."

"And what do you maggots want with that?"

The boy frowned. "Oi, don't push yer luck, old man. You might want to talk to us with a mite more respect if you wanna get outta this with a finger left on yer hands."

"I asked you maggots what the number is for."

The boy looked around at his gang, chuckling. "Can you guys believe how this old man is talking to us?" He thrust his hand out at the old man, clamping him by the neck.

"Don't break his neck yet! We still need his number," a girl jeered.

"Yeah!" hooted another, "Break a finger first!"

The girl called Washio gulped nervously. Could they not see how coldly the old man was looking at them?

"You're rather polite today, Washio," the boy said. "Usually, you woulda done this by n-aaaah!" The boy broke off, screaming in pain; his hand had been bent back into his wrist.

The old man held the boy's arm in his hands, despite the boy's attempts to twist away. "Oh dear, your friends said to break a _finger_ first, not a wrist." The old man shook his head, smiling. "You must forgive my poor memory. To make it all better I'll break two instead."

"No, no…" _Snap. Snap. _The boy screeched, now violently trying to free himself.

Washio dropped her knife. Members of the gang bolted away.

"Just as I thought," the old man said, pleased. He dropped the boy's hand and bent to pick up the fallen knife.

Immediately, the boy ran, cradling his hand.

Washio turned as well, ready to escape. "Not so fast, worm." She froze. "Such a nice toy you have," the old man said pleasantly, fingering the knife. "Back then, toys like this were made of flimsy metals, but now, just as with every other toy, they've added some lights and such to it." _Snap_. Washio flinched. Two halves of the knife hilt skidded to her feet. "Turn around." She did. The old man beamed sinisterly. "Now then, let's have that conversation you wanted."

"Y-yes?" she gulped nervously.

"Let's start off with that question of mine you never answered."

"What?"

"The number," the old man said impatiently.

"A-a life number is the number that everyone is assigned at birth," Washio said quickly, worried about her own safety should the old man snap at her. "It's used to access everything. Bank accounts, insurance, shopping, internet, head-phone…"

"Head-phone?"

How senile was this old man? Of course, she didn't say that out loud. "Y-you know, the chip in yer head. That's what stores yer number and other stuff."

"Tch, the world has changed. For example, that building over there," he gestured over to an old shopping complex that was awaiting demolition, "didn't there use to be a detective's office there?"

"What? I never knew that there was a detective's office over there…" That building had been there for almost a century now; how old was this man?

"Nevermind." He sighed. "Seems that people will always forget you once enough time has passed."

"What?"

"Nothing, maggot."

"Err," Washio shifted uncomfortably, "can I go?"

"No," the old man said brightly. "Tell me, is there a detective's office somewhere near here?"

"A private investigator?" Washio thought fast. "Umm…umm…there's one, I think. Above the bank down the street. It just opened."

"Good." The old man waved his hand. "You may leave now, worm."

Washio bolted. The few bystanders remaining stared.

"Is something wrong?"

They ran.

* * *

Kayo Yamamoto stretched happily in her new office. She had wanted it in another location, but it was going to be under construction soon, so she settled for a place nearby. It was quite nice, anyways, where she settled. Rather historic too, considering her building was near one of the oldest train stations still in service.

Only twenty-two and just out of The University and she already had her own office. Really, who would've expected that when she was in high school? And detective of all things…her mother would've been shocked. Still, she was capable; _very_ capable. Even the police turned to her at times and with increasing frequency now that she no longer had to attend The University.

She supposed she could've joined the investigation department of the police, but opening her own private investigation office felt like the correct thing to do and Kayo had a good deal of trust in her gut instinct. It did, after all, tell her to become a detective and that worked out great.

The door opened.

Surprised by the sudden entrance, Kayo quickly swung her feet from her desk and assumed a more professional position.

At the door stood an old man, surveying the office with interest. He was calm, haughty even, and seemed completely unaware of the fact that it probably wasn't the best of ideas for an old man of his age to be wandering around unaccompanied. To be that old likely meant that he was rich enough to pay the government to allow his natural death.

But where were his attendants? Kayo smiled, trying to seem friendly."Hello, are you lost—"

"Lost?" The old man cackled. "Obviously in the time between our last meeting you've de-evolved. Down again to a mere mouse."

Kayo continued to smile, but her eyes were glaring at the old man and her position stiffer. Just how was it possible, she wondered, that the old had only said three sentences but she felt _this_ insulted? She tried to calm down. "Excuse me," she said steely through clenched teeth, "it's just that usually seniors of your age do not wander alone."

The old man faked a sorrowful sob. "Oh, you worked so hard last time and it put too much strain on your poor brain to carry on." He stopped his theatrics to look directly at Kayo. "Honestly, who the hell do you think I am?"

A vein was threatening to pop. "Well I don't know who you the hell you are, sir."

"Tch. You always backtrack," he said, shaking his head. "Let's hope that your evolution will once again offset that. I do hope that the current you is smarter than your moldy, cleaned with a floor-mop face makes me think you are. Ooh, and now it's a rather unsightly shade of red."

Indeed it was. Kayo abandoned all attempts at politeness. "You keep saying, 'you you you', old man, but I have no idea what you're talking about. I don't know you." She stood so that she could be at least somewhat closer in eye-level to the bizarrely tall (did his bones not shrink with age?) old man. "Just in case you're deaf. I DON'T KNOW YOU."

The old man sauntered in and sat himself down on one of Kayo's couches. "Hmm, not bad," he commented.

The chair skidded loudly on the floor as Kayo pushed it away before stomping angrily over to the couch where he sat. "Are you even going to _answer_ to what I said?" she snapped.

He shrugged. "I see no real need to. You always forget anyways, every time." He leaned back comfortably as though he owned the couch. "Now, on to more pressing matters, I'm rather hungry."

"What?" Kayo huffed. "Don't just change the flow of the conversation like that!"

"Hurry it up," the old man commanded regally, snapping his fingers. "Hunger is a constant disease that needs to be cured."

"Oh, so now you want me to get you something to eat." Kayo frowned and put her hands on her hips. "Go to a restaurant or something. You must be getting senile since, in case you haven't noticed, this is a detective's office. There's no food here."

The old man swung his cane right into Kayo's face. "There. Slaps like that usually clear your head," he said chipperly.

Kayo gaped. This old man…he had to be some strange illusion. There was no one someone like him could actually exist! Yet even as Kayo righted herself, rubbing her sore cheek (which was somehow not as sore as she anticipated it to be considering build of the cane) and ready to retort, she found herself strangely less angry than she should be. Somewhere, behind the torrent of anger in its finest form, ready to spew forth in the form of words, she almost felt…_happy_? She mentally slapped herself. _No._ No. She was not a masochist.

But there was no denying that it felt familiar.

"On second thought," she said lividly, "why don't you go to a suicide center and eat there?"

"Oh? You mean that nice place where I can eat a last meal and die?" he asked innocently.

"Yes."

The old man rolled his eyes. "Don't you know that's exactly what I'm doing by coming here, little rag?"

Even with that last comment, the flow of hate ebbed. "Wh-what do you mean—"

Her words were cut off as her head-phone picked up a transmission. "Hang on," she said.

"_Hello?_" she thought.

"_Kayo?" _it was a girl's transmission..

"_Kana? What happened_? _You don't start working until tomorrow. Don't tell me you're this excited to be a secretary."_

_ "Of course not! Though I am happy that you're going to start paying me for all the work I've done…anyways, I just thought that you'd be interested in a case and I decided I'd tell you before the police have to come to you for it."_

_ "Well, what is it?"_

_ "Come to the Edo Hotel. I don't really know what happened myself…"_

_ "Basics? Please?"_

_ "Dead man. Cause of death, unknown right now."_

_ "Right." _The transmission was cut off.

Kayo briskly walked towards the door. "I don't have time to deal with you, old man. Go eat somewhere else or wait here."

"Nonsense."

She took a deep breath to lengthen her shortening patience before turning to face the annoying old man. "Look, there's been a murder—"

"Even better! I knew I sensed a mystery." He sprang up and with an impossible speed, was right in front of Kayo, grinning a grin with a mouth that was still somehow filled with filed-sharp teeth. "Well, what are you waiting for? Let's go, maitre-de."

* * *

Much to her own shock, Kayo had acquiesced and allowed the old man to follow her to the scene of the crime. Of course, she had secretly tried to lose him by walking at a pace that was much nearer to running than walking, but the old man had kept up easily. In fact, Kayo had ended up more winded than he had.

Edo Hotel, on the outside, appeared normal, even with the huge crowd that had gathered around it (although the crowd probably consisted of over-curious people rather than tourists). It was a huge structure, over three-hundred stories in height and the very pinnacle of architectural and engineering accomplishment. Gracefully, it floated upwards, into the sky, its color changing solar panels almost making it invisible. The magnetic platforms spiraled around the central tower where an elevator took guests to their rooms. It was so high that Air-Transit had built a port on the top platform and an occasional space-bound ship used it for launching. High-end and luxurious, only the richest in the galaxy could stay there, although many used it as a recreation center.

"Excuse me," Kayo said, pushing through the gawking crowds. The old man, once again, followed without difficulty.

The police had set up a barrier around the hotel, the words 'DO NOT CROSS' blinked from the digital screen.

"Kayo!" A girl near the front of the crowds rushed forward, waving. Her black braid swung as she jumped to catch Kayo's attention.

"Kana, you got anything for me?" Kayo asked when Kana had stopped in front of her.

"Of course, otherwise I would've gone with Naeko and stayed out of the way while the investigation was going on," Kana said, pulling out a small screen from a bag. "Mr. Suzuka sent that Shun guy over earlier with this." A hologram of a man's body popped out of the screen. He appeared to be middle aged. His glasses were askew and his head was bent back on the chair he sat in, mouth agape. "This is the victim, Mr. Tendo. Age 126 by Standard Years."

Kayo gave a low whistle. "126? Let me guess, he's a Spacer."

"That's right. Third-generation Auroran. Headed a group that was pro-Earth and wanted the other Spacer worlds to allow Earth's expansion into space."

"Pro-Earth, huh? Couldn't have been a very popular guy with the majority of the Spacers."

"Definitely not," Kana agreed. "It's too bad, really. Earth could use more supporters. I mean, it's not like we're primitive _sub-humans_ like you'd think we are by the way those Spacers—"

"Kana," Kayo reminded, "The victim?"

"Oh, right," she laughed sheepishly. "Sorry. Anyways, the police are pretty sure that's why Mr. Tendo was killed."

"How was he killed though?" Kayo asked, slowly circling the hologram of the dead man. "There's no visible wounds. Was it poison? A nanobot?"

Kana shook her head. "It was a psychic probe."

Kayo laughed nervously. "A what?"

Kana sighed. "Honestly Kayo, read the science journals sometimes won't you? The thing's been around for a few years now. They're perfecting its functions."

"Alright, alright. I got it," Kayo held up her hands in feigned defeat. "I'm sorry I'm not up-to-date with technology."

"You're a detective but you spend most of your time with your browsing food catalogues…"

"Hey!" Kayo said defensively. "One day there'll be a crime that can only be solved with that knowledge and then you'll see!"

"A-huh. Of course. Well, I guess I'm not too surprised you don't know about it," Kana handed over the hologram to Kayo and dug through her bag for a second screen. "Its development has been pretty hushed up, even on Aurora where it was being made. Controversy and all that. Ah, here we go." She flicked on a second screen and rummaged through it until the hologram displayed a black hilt. "This is it, the psychic probe."

"Looks like a normal laser blade to me," Kayo said, unimpressed.

"Well believe me, it's not. Its probe's current goes right into the brain. Used correctly and by a skillful enough person, it can do just about anything, even read a person's thoughts. The police are thinking about using it to replace the lie detector for interrogations. Of course, used incorrectly, or maybe correctly in Mr. Tendo's case, it can kill."

"Ah, so that's why there's no exterior wound."

"That's right," Kana shut off the hologram and placed it in her bag.

"So, Mr. Tendo was killed by a psychic probe. When?"

"He died at 10:50 this morning, Standard Time."

"Oi, Kayo!" Kayo turned to see a policeman exiting the barrier and motioning towards her. "Come in, I'll remove the barrier for you."

"Oh, thanks Mr. Suzuka!" Kayo called back.

"I guess I'll get going now," Kana said. She shut off the hologram and handed it to Kayo.

"Sure. Have a nice day."

"Yeah," Kana groaned, "this will be on my mind all day."

"Thanks, Kana," she patted the other girl on the shoulder, "you're the best."

"Mmhmm, and starting tomorrow, you'll actually pay me for this." She waved. "See you later, I'm going to find Naeko."

Kayo waved back before jogging towards the hotel.

"126, eh?" the old man commented suddenly, still keeping pace with Kayo. "Humans live so long these days."

"You're still here!" Kayo cried, freezing in her tracks. "I forgot…"

"Use your head a little, bread crust," he shook his head contemptuously. "Why would I leave when there's a perfectly good meal waiting? Honestly, you've seem to have become sluggish again."

Kayo gritted her teeth. "Whatever meal you hope to be getting from me, you might want to be more polite to me to get it."

"No thank you," he replied politely. "Now, let's hope that you live to your hundreds as well. Maybe then you'll have more time to improve."

She decided to let the last part slide, too tired to argue more. "Only Spacers live to that age, you ought to know that much at least. On their modified planets, they've got better food and less viruses. On Earth, living to a hundred big deal." Kayo sighed. "It must be nice to live that long…"

The old man chuckled. "Long life isn't always a good thing."

Before Kayo could answer, Mr. Suzuka had appeared in front of them, opening the police barrier just wide enough for a person to enter. "Hey, Kayo," he said while clenching a cigarette between his teeth. "Heard you opened an office. You could've joined the police. Even Hiro would've been glad to have you, and he's basically impossible to please."

"An office seemed like the right thing to do," Kayo said as she stepped through. "How's your sister? Graduating yet?"

"This year." He glanced at the old man and held out an arm, stopping his entry. "Hey, Kayo, who's this?"

Kayo silently cheered. Now she could be rid of this annoyance! But before Kayo could say, '_No one that I know,_" the old man answered for her.

"I'm her grandfather." Damn, he was putting on theatrics again, but pretty convincingly this time. He genuinely sounded like a friendly old man.

"Grandfather?" Suzuka was skeptical.

Quickly, Kayo walked back to Suzuka, determined to keep the old man out. "Mr. Suzuka, he—"

Again, the old man was faster. "Yes, her grandfather. You see," he was using a sad tone. A _convincing_ sad tone. Not good. "My child and wife have both died, she's all I have left. I know that I'll die soon, so I wanted to see my darling grandchild one more time." He sniffled. Oh, he was a good actor, no doubt about that. But Kayo didn't stop him. How, she wondered, did he know about that? "She's my only source of pride, officer. When she solved the case of my child's death, I knew that she would become a great detective. Now, she has. Just one more time, I want to watch her solve a case. Please officer. Let me. I swear that I won't be in the way at all."

"Ah, if that's the case, go on in." Suzuka lowered his arm. There was still something off, but the old man knew too much to be lying, and Kayo wasn't saying anything to dispute him either.

"Oh thank you!" the old man shook Suzuka's arm heartily. "Let's go, Kayo," he chirped.

Stiffly, Kayo started after the old man. How did he know?

"What?" the old man asked, once again rude.

"How did you know?" she asked quietly.

"Know what?"

"That my parents died," Kayo stared at him, "that I was the one that solved their murder."

The old man merely smiled. "Lucky guess."

"Fine, don't tell me," she scowled and quickened her pace. "I should've known better than to waste my time asking."

The old man continued a slower pace for a little while and allowed Kayo to gain a some distance away from him.

"…because that's how it always is."

* * *

"This way, Kayo," Suzuka said once he had caught up to them. He gestured to a doorway leading to a convention center on a platform 135 stories in the air.

"Was there something going on in here today?" Kayo asked.

"A science convention," Suzuka answered as he punched in the code to enter the room. "There were exhibits from leading researchers all over the world and even some Spacers from Aurora. It wasn't open to the public though, and with an exhibition hall this big, it was still pretty empty. All the exhibits were closed off from each other, so committing the crime unseen wouldn't have been too hard."

"What about the security cameras? Didn't they pick anything up?"

Suzuka smiled bitterly. "Tch, you know those researchers and their egos. They demanded that all the security cameras be turned off so that their precious discoveries wouldn't be recorded on anything until they were ready to showcase them in their entirety." He shook his head, frustrated. "Honestly, if they wanted it to be _that_ much of a secret, they shouldn't have showed their inventions even in a private gathering like this. Especially without security cameras. Who knows what lunatic would snap and murder them for their research?"

Kayo frowned, agreeing. "Perfect set up for a murder."

"Mmhmm."

The door slid open, revealing a spacious hall in the shape of a circle. The platform that held the room was one of the few in the hotel that completely encircled the central tower. There were many smaller booths, covered in one-way glass that flashed the name of the display within the booth. The police were gathered in front of one almost around the curve, the one whose glass flashed 'Rin Tendo'.

"Where are the suspects?" Kayo asked, looking around the mostly empty hall.

"In the central conference room." Suzuka nodded to a door that opened into the central pillar. When they reached it, Suzuka again entered a code.

Several researchers were gathered in the center of the room, all in chairs that had been set up to face a large hologram screen on the stage on one end of the room. Two police officers stood by, watching them.

A sour looking man tossed a glanced at Suzuka and Kayo before turning back, as through to ignore them. "Back again?" he grumbled peevishly. "Now are you going to start solving this case or will we all perish in this room? I love a good murder mystery as much as the next person, but this? This is a waste of my time."

"Yusuke!" A woman with long hair elbowed him sharply in the ribs.

"Ow!" The man's scowl broke and then he looked more glum than sour.

"Your sarcasm isn't going to get us out of here any faster you know," the woman said bluntly as she leaned back into her chair, arms crossed.

The young, almost naive looking policeman giggled gleefully before reassuming his straight face after the policewoman glared harshly at him. The other scientists struggled to remain dignified, but a red-haired woman in the corner laughed loudly. The man blushed slightly, but smiled faintly (and his face still somehow maintained a gloomy aura).

"Rest assured, Mr. Kurosawa, the police are working as fast they can." Suzuka pulled Kayo in front of him. "This is Kayo Yamamoto, she'll be assisting with this case."

"Err, nice to meet you," Kayo said stiffly, not sure of how to act in front of this many (in her eyes) geniuses.

"I heard you're quite a decent investigator, for one who lives on Earth anyways," commented the red-haired woman.

Kayo bristled, her Earthly pride pricked. "I'm sure that Earth's investigators are on par with any on a Spacer world, ma'am."

The woman burst out laughing as though Kayo had told the world's funniest joke. Several other researchers joined in. "Please, girl," the woman said after her laughs had subsided, "don't pretend that you're not aware of the situation. All of Earth's best have left to colonize other worlds, that's what makes the Spacer worlds superior. All that Earth has left is the cesspool. The backwater no Spacer world would take." There were murmurs of agreement from the crowd of scientists.

"I wouldn't say that only backwater is left," the long-haired woman said calmly. "There were many exhibits today by those on Earth that were very impressive."

"You're still an Earthling yet, Mrs. Kurosawa," the red-haired woman smirked. "Why, you had an Earth disease just a few years ago."

Her husband narrowed his eyes. "I don't see what that has to do with anything, Miss Carr."

"Oh yes it does, Mr. Kurosawa. You and she are among the last trickles of talent that's coming out of this trash-heap planet."

The old man cleared his throat. "If I do say so myself, if this planet has been feeding into the talent pools of your so called 'superior worlds' for so long now and still keep enough to sustain itself, I could hardly call it backwater. In fact," he smiled serenely, "I would call this planet the superior one in many ways. Your planets are perfectly flawed."

"How dare you—"

"I see that all of you are from Spacer worlds," Kayo said quickly to ease the tension despite her own desire to spite the Spacer woman.

"Perceptive," the red-haired woman spat. "Only Aurorans are in here, the best." She shot a glare at the old man.

"This is discrimination!" a blond man wailed. "You Earth policemen let your people go, but kept in the foreigners!"

"I'm sorry, Mr. Artez," Suzuka said soothingly. "But there is a reason for this. Mr. Tendo was killed with a psychic probe, which at the moment, is only available on Aurora."

"We've sent the Earth police samples," Mr. Kurosawa retorted.

"Yes," Suzuka agreed, "but experimental ones. Not ones like the model that killed Mr. Tendo. It is much more likely that the murderer is among the scientists that came here from Aurora. Besides," he said coolly, "I can tell that most of you have anti-Earth sentiments. Mr. Tendo was a leader in the pro-Earth movement, and an influential one. That's reason enough to kill him, don't you think?"

"Then why didn't the murderer commit the crime on Aurora? We would've had many opportunities there," wheezed an old woman. "It's much more likely that one of Earth killed him, since that was the only time that they would've had the opportunity to."

"Wrong," Kayo said. "Miss Carr gave the reason to wait until Mr. Tendo came to Earth herself. 'Earth police are inferior', that's the impression most Spacers have, correct? The murderer thought that it would've been easier to get away with it if the murder was committed on Earth, since all murders are interplanetary affairs, even if the victim or culprit is from another planet."

"Well, it couldn't have been any of us anyways," Mrs. Kurosawa insisted. "The police have already questioned all of us on the lie detector and none of us were lying when we said that we didn't kill Mr. Tendo."

Kayo blinked rapidly. Could the lie detector have been wrong? No, that was impossible. No human could hide the signs of lying from the machine. "Is that true, Mr. Suzuka?"

"I wish it wasn't, but it's true," Suzuka admitted.

"Exactly, so let us leave," Miss Carr demanded.

"No, not yet," Kayo said. "I want to requestion all of you. Is that alright, Mr. Suzuka?"

"Go ahead," Suzuka shrugged. "Maybe you'll find something we didn't."

Kayo nodded. "Good. Put the lie detector in another room. I'll question all of them one by one."

"It already is. It's in the room backstage," he pointed to a closed off room whose door blended in the walls.

"Thanks. Umm, Mr. Kurosawa…?"

The gloomy man nodded.

"Okay, you're first."

"Shun!" The foolish looking young policeman straightened immediately.

"Yes sir!"

Suzuka waved him over. "You're coming in. Take notes of everything, got it?"

"Yes sir!" He happily ran over and stuck his tongue out at the policewoman.

"Umm, sir," the policewoman said, unwilling to be one-upped, "what about me?"

"Keep guarding, Ikido."

Kayo walked towards the room.

The old man followed.

Kayo whipped around. "What are you doing?" she hissed.

"Following you in of course, my dear grand-daughter."

"Oh no you're not," she protested, trying to shoo him away.

"And why not? I won't get in the way, I promise," he promised with a face that lacked honesty.

Kurosawa stood impatiently before Kayo. "Investigator, just take your grandfather in with you. I want to hurry up and get this over with."

"Yes, _dear_," he beamed, "Let's not keep the nice man waiting."

* * *

_Yusuke Kurosawa. Age 36. First-generation Auroran. Head of neurology research on Aurora._

Kayo read over Kurosawa's information silently. She was flanked by Suzuka and Shun, who was glaring at Kurosawa and poised over his screen, determined to do a good job at note taking. Kurosawa, hooked up to the lie detector directly opposite Shun, glared right back and did a much better job of intimidating Shun than Shun could intimidate him (much aided by his naturally harsh features).

"So…you headed neurology on your planet," Kayo said.

"That's what my information says," he said boredly. "Please don't be redundant, investigator." Shun began to input on the screen furiously.

"Right." _Don't get pissed, Kayo; stay calm_. "It also says that you're a first-generation Auroran. Were you from Earth?"

"Yes."

"Why'd you leave Earth?"

Kurosawa shrugged. "Better resources," his mouth twitched, "better brains, I suppose, in some respects. But most of them are very annoying. You heard Miss Carr. I'd almost rather move to Solaria and be hermit than mingle with _them_ much longer."

"Okay. So…neurology. What exactly did you specialize in?"

"I dabble here and there. Jack of all trades, master of…most of them actually."

"Did you help develop the psychic probe?"

"Yes. I contributed more to its development than most."

"You must be pretty used to using it then, huh?"

"I can do almost anything to the brain and its memories; modify, read, delete, destroy. The only thing I can't do is add. It's the pinnacle of difficulty to create something from nothing, but its nice dream I think. And," he smirked, "yes, I could've very easily killed Mr. Tendo. In fact I'm probably the most qualified person here to have done that, if that's what you're insinuating."

"Very honest of you, but did you kill Mr. Tendo?"

"No."

Kayo looked at the lie detector. It stayed silent.

"The detector isn't going to go off," Kurosawa said, "it didn't go off when I said that last time either. Then again, it does have a 0.0001% fail rate."

"Yeah, so maybe you did to it!" Shun shouted excitedly.

Kayo groaned. The old man laughed. Kurosawa rolled his eyes. Suzuka slapped Shun. Shun cried, "Ow!"

"Or more likely," Kurosawa said, peeved, "everyone you've questioned is innocent and the real murderer is among the people you allowed to leave. A human error is vastly more probable than a mechanical one."

"Maybe, maybe. Double checking doesn't hurt," Kayo said.

"Then would you like to ask me anything else? I would personally enjoy being unhooked from this contraption."

"Just a few," she replied. "One, do you have any alibi?"

"Yes. My wife was with me the whole time."

"Alright, next question. Do you have any idea where the psychic probe came from?"

Kurosawa laughed shortly. "Too many places, detective. Too many places. Today, there were several researchers here from Aurora who had contributed to the development of the psychic probe." He interlaced his bony fingers and leaned forward. "Every one of them brought along a psychic probe to showcase, each varying slightly depending on its creator." Kurosawa smiled darkly. "I brought one myself that is particularly proficient at relaxing parts of the brain and—well, it's complicated, but think of it as a highly improved version of the electronic drug of the more archaic times."

It was almost as though he was asking to be a prime suspect. Kayo could tell that she wasn't the only one who thought that considering the way that Shun was nodding emphatically as he copied down what Kurosawa had said. "Who are they?"

"Mr. Artez, Mrs. Una, and Mr. Moreau."

"Not Miss Carr?" Kayo asked sharply.

He laughed again. "You _would_ think she did it, wouldn't you? She does make herself rather unlikeable by Earth respects considering her antipathy for this planet. But no, she was not among the developers of the psychic probe. However," he leaned in confidentially, "let me tell you this; it does not take skill to kill with the probe."

"I see," she said slowly.

"Any more questions, detective?"

"…no. You can go."

"Thank you," he said sarcastically, but obviously relieved. "I look forward to hearing your deductions." He nodded towards Kayo and left.

After the door shut behind him, Shun bursted out, "He did it! I know he did it!"

"Proof, Shun, proof," Kayo said, not paying much attention to him.

"Well…I don't really have any," he admitted relunctantly. "But just listen to him! The guy is enjoying himself here! Here, read over my notes!"

He immediately shoved his screen right into Kayo's line of sight. In addition to notes of what Kurosawa had said were little doodles which accentuated Kurosawa's admittedly scary features, labeled with 'jackass' and the like. Kayo twitched and slammed the screen back into Shun's face. "No doodling!"

"Hey! They speak the truth!"

"Why did you ever hire this guy, Mr. Suzuka?"

"Oi, I'm right here!"

"Well…he's got a good sense of duty when it comes down to it."

"Oh, Senpai!"

"Get off!" Seeing as Shun wasn't going to let go off his own volition, Suzuka shoved him away. "Well, Kayo, who's next?"

"There's not much I really want to ask her, but…"

* * *

_Sana Kurosawa. Age 30. First-generation Auroran. Geneticist. _

She was almost the exact opposite of her husband. Whereas he seemed prickly and unapproachable, she felt friendly and amicable. Instead of engaging in a glaring contest with her, Shun stared appreciatively (and giggled somewhat helplessly).

"Why'd you marry that guy anyways?" he asked, unable to help himself.

Sana laughed. "He likes to make himself seem worse than he really is. It's his defense mechanism against the world, I guess. Honestly, he's a good person, you just have to peel away at the armor."

"Miss Carr mentioned earlier that you were from Earth," Kayo said after elbowing Shun, "why'd you leave Earth?"

"Remember that Earth disease Miss Carr also mentioned earlier? Well, there was no cure for it at the time, but, my husband heard that there was a cure for something similar on Aurora. So we went."

"Wait, so _that's_ why he went to Aurora?"

"Ah, as expected, he neglected to tell you. Like I said, worse than he really is."

"Anyways," Kayo said, getting herself back on track. "Genetics. As in designer babies genetics or what?"

"Oh no," Sana said, shaking her head. "I research instinct. You know, just exactly _what_ it is that tells a sea turtle to swim for the sea or for a cicada to sing in the summer. It's all in the genes. I'm not quite sure if I like the idea of a designer baby, personally," she mused. "The average consumer would ask for the same type of baby: beautiful, smart, athletic, over-idealized in general. With them running around, the rest of us would be the Picassos among the Michaelangelos; different, not conventionally perfect."

"Err, right," Kayo said hesitantly, not sure if she fully understood everything. "So, nothing to do with the psychic probe?"

"Nope."

"Did you kill Mr. Tendo?"

"No."

Still, the detector remained silent.

Kayo sighed. "Your husband said that you were with him the whole time today, is that true?"

"For the most part, yes. Obviously, we went our separate ways for an exhibit or two."

"So he did have an opportunity to sneak off and kill Mr. Tendo?"

"Yes, he had the opportunity, but he didn't murder Mr. Tendo," Sana said coolly. "He's not anti-Earth, detective, and he's not a killer."

"Yes, yes, but it's good to consider all the possibilities."

"Please consider more probable ones."

"Anyways, since you weren't with him at the time Mr. Tendo was killed, where were you?"

"I was in Mr. Tanna's exhibit. Nanotechnology is fascinating, you know. It's too bad Mr. Tanna was so nervous."

"Eh?" Kayo lifted an eyebrow quizzically. "And why would he be nervous?"

"He's young, only 22, I think, and from Earth," Sana said, holding up two fingers, "that's two strikes against him to the Aurorans. Outside of my husband and me, they're all over 80, at least."

"What?" Shun spluttered. He immediately looked up from his screen, flabbergasted. "Even Miss Carr?"

Sana hid a laugh behind her hand. "Oh yes, Miss Carr is…157 actually."

"No!" Shun wept.

"Whoa! But she looks even younger than Mr. Tendo!" Kayo cried, too shocked (and impressed) to keep herself from deviating.

"She did age rather well, didn't she?" Sana mused, smiling. "When I'm 157, I will be rotting in my grave."

"Wow…"

Suzuka cleared his throat. "Kayo, I'm sorry, but the investigation?"

"Oh, r-right." She rubbed her neck, embarrassed. "Ahem. So, did the Aurorans actually do anything to him?"

"They harassed him. Jabs here and there at Earth, you saw how they were earlier." She took a deep breath, as though preparing a rant. "Miss Carr in particular toyed with him quite a bit. Mr. Artez…well…he was very pompous around the exhibit, constantly talking about Aurora, Aurora, Aurora, which, mind you, _is_ more advanced, but still, that was inappropriate. And then right before I entered the exhibit, I saw Mrs. Una criticizing the poor man on even the most _insignificant_ of details. He was a puddle after that and couldn't even be proud of his findings. I'm not surprised if he had to face that all day." Sana shook her head, frustrated. "Honestly, I'd almost rather move to Solaria…"

"And become a hermit?" Kayo smiled.

"Exactly," Sana said, nodding her head once sharply.

"What about your husband? Where was he?"

"Mr. Artez had his exhibit up at the time, he was over there arguing with him."

* * *

_Miguel Artez. Age 97. Auroran. Neurologist. _

The Aurorans only let in the most talented and physically well-built, and the result of a few centuries of that was evident in Miguel Artez, who looked more like a model in his prime than a scientist almost about to celebrate his centennial. He exuded elegance from his expensive suit to the way he sat.

"Oh? Do you like my watch?" he asked, flaunting the platinum covered timepiece on his wrist after he saw Shun eyeing it. "It is nice, isn't it? Made with the finest platinum and inlaid with minute samples of meteorite from a hundred different sources." He turned his wrist this way and that to catch the light at different angles, admiring it himself. "Ah, yes, it's a work of art. Do you want it?"

"Would I!" Shun said ecstatically, jumping up to take the watch.

"Hey now, I didn't say that I'd give it to you," Artez said. "It _completes_ the ensemble."

"O-oh," Shun sat back down. "But…you know. That shade doesn't go with your suit, it's much too light. Ruins everything."

"Hmm." Artez frowned and looked again at his watch, this time not liking the overall effect. "Maybe you're right." He took off his watch.

Shun immediately held out his hands.

"What? I still didn't say that I'd give it to you. I'm not _that_ stupid."

"Anymore," the old man said, hiding it within a cough.

"What was that?"

"Mr. Artez," Kayo cut in hastily, "you study neurology. Do you work with Mr. Kurosawa?"

"Why yes, yes I do."

"Mrs. Kurosawa said that you were arguing with him today, why?"

"Oh that," Artez scoffed. "It was just a slight disagreement. You see, girl, I believe that in addition to having a product that is useful, we must have a product that is beautiful. Aesthetics, girl, aesthetics. Aurora has always been that sort of planet: close to perfection both inside and out. Even the people; look at me," he ran a hand over his face dreamily, "lovely _and _smart. Aesthetics and brains; it's the winning combination. But," Artez sighed, shaking his head, "Yusuke Kurosawa is an Earthling yet; very utilitarian. Simply aims for performance, but doesn't care for beauty of any kind. I'm not surprised, just _look_ at him: brilliant but unfortunately formed."

"A-huh," Kayo grunted blandly, staring, displeased, at the vain man.

"His wife might understand though," Artez commented, smiling pleasantly. "Very nice considering her source."

"Mr. Artez, she's married," Kayo said, "and _a third_ your age."

"Yes, and she'd probably be dead by the time she reaches mine too. Such a shame."

"Back to the topic," she said loudly, "you were arguing with Mr. Kurosawa."

"Well, when it came down to it, I believed that some sacrifices should be made for the aesthetics; balance, girl, balance. That's it. If you don't understand, it's alright; allowances can be made for your background."

"Don't worry, Mr. Artez, I understand completely."

"Do you really?" he said skeptically.

"And your probe, Mr. Artez? As a neurologist, you must've contributed to its creation and Mr. Kurosawa told me that you a few others brought along self-modified models."

"My probe never left the display case, girl," Artez said coldly, stiffening up. "It was inlaid with crystals formed on Io and made of the finest specie of blackwood on Aurora; much too precious to be let out."

"Its function, Mr Artez?"

"Mine was especially good at suppressing activity in the brain."

"Your model seems to be the most likely at the moment to have killed Mr. Tendo, Mr. Artez."

"That's ridiculous, girl, I didn't kill Tendo. Didn't I just say that my probe never left the display case?"

"Only on your word, Mr. Artez."

"And Kurosawa's," Artez countered. "He was arguing with me when the murder took place, remember? Not the most pleasant way to end a day considering the quality of company I had before. Mr. Moreau and Miss Carr understand the necessity of beauty much better (she was a perfect way to start the day). Why, Kurosawa even failed in comparison to Miss Una and she came in before him to give me a rant about how I focused entirely too much on appearance." He shook his head. "I suppose she wouldn't know much about appearance considering hers. Yes," Artez said thoughtfully, "Miss Carr still understands best."

* * *

_Geraldine Carr. Age 157. Auroran. Roboticist._

Geraldine Carr did not appear 157, she barely even appeared to be 35. She was a very beautiful woman and everything, from the way she dressed to the way she positioned herself, accentuated the fact. All Shun could do was stare and whimper helplessly. All Kayo could do was roll her eyes.

"I am out of your league, boy," Carr said, lip curling maliciously. "I have no interest in ugly, disease ridden lambs."

"I-I'm not disease ridden," Shun protested feebly.

"Oh yes you are, this entire planet is." She waved her hand through the air. "I don't know why I ever decided to risk my health and come here."

"Well whatever the reason, you're here," Kayo said flatly. "So please cooperate."

She shrugged. "Just get on with the questions. Though I can't imagine you have very much to ask me. I'm no neurologist, girl. I have _nothing_ to do with the probe."

"Really?" Kayo narrowed her eyes. "But _I_ imagine that you must know how to work it at least a little bit. You've studied the brains of robots and their circuitry must have some similarities to a human's."

"Hardly. Robots cannot be compared to humans, girl," Geraldine drawled. "Their brains are by far less complex than a human's."

"Wasn't the probe originally tested robots?" Suzuka said suddenly.

"Only for the main paths," she snapped back.

"Just the basics would've been enough to kill Mr. Tendo, Miss Carr," Kayo replied.

"Hmph. I assure you, as much as I wanted to kill that Tendo fool, I wasn't the one who did it."

"Alibi?"

"I was with Moreau in his exhibit."

* * *

_Nathaniel Moreau. Age 137. Auroran. Neurologist._

Moreau said nothing as he waited. His lean face was calm, smooth and devoid of any sign of anger. Likewise, his suit was crisp, smooth, and devoid of any wrinkles. The only sign of any displeasure on his part was the impatient drumming of his dark fingers.

"So, Mr. Moreau, can you tell me a little about your research and what you contributed to the probe?"

"I helped map portions of the brain."

"Oh? So what does your probe specialize in doing?"

"Mine? I'm not sure I understand the question."

Kayo sighed. "Both Mr. Kurosawa and Mr. Artez have already admitted to bringing a probe."

"Well, yes, I know _that_," Moreau said, just barely avoiding rolling his eyes. "But my probe doesn't have any special functions."

"Any at all?" Kayo said suspiciously. "Even if it is a small difference…"

"…I suppose it is a little better than the other's when it comes to finding the truth in a person," Moreau admitted.

"Oh, so it is a lie detector?"

"Lie detector," the man sneered, "what a rustic perception you have. I said that it finds the truth in a person. Not just the truth in their words, but also in their person, do you understand?"

Kayo stared at him blankly. "Umm…next question. Miss Carr claimed that she was with you when the murder occurred, is that true?"

"Yes."

"So then neither of you had the opportunity to kill Mr. Tendo."

"Why restate the obvious? Neither of us killed that pest."

* * *

_Anabel Una. Age 245. Auroran. Neurologist._

There was once a time when Anabel Una was considered one of the leading figures of the study of memory. It was even said that her memory was the sharpest and most accurate among human beings. Kayo could only suppose that time had undone that, considering how the old woman was digging through her bag, searching for her medicine.

"I could've _sworn_ that I had put in an extra capsule this morning. Oh, where is that thing. I should've taken it at 10:30 this morning and I still haven't had it. I'm surprise I have keeled over and died already," Una fussed.

"Maybe you've already taken it?" Kayo suggested gently.

"I should think that I would remember if I did!" Una snapped peevishly before continuing to search her bag.

"Anyways, basic question: did you kill Mr. Tendo?"

"Of course not."

"Well, the lie detector seems to agree with you," Kayo said, displeased. "Can you tell me where you were when Mr. Tendo was killed?"

"In Mr. Artez's exhibit. Man pays too much attention to aesthetics, honestly." She waved her hand impatiently. "You have no idea how much of a bother it was to work with him on the probe. Honestly, whether or not the _colors clash _should not be of importance until the probe actually works. Do you have any idea how much time he forced our group to waste? Too much, that's what!"

"…right. And what did your probe do?"

"My probe? Oh, it was quite good with memory. I've always specialized in mem—aha!" Una pulled a bottle from her bag triumphantly. "Found it! …odd, it's empty," she said, puzzled.

"Maybe you really did take it earlier."

"Th-that's preposterous," Una said, but less certainly.

"It's okay, we all grow old and minds just go with the age," Shun said as an attempt to comfort the old woman.

Una flared. "How dare dirty little earth-boy like you talk to me like this!" she fumed, standing up rapidly, pulling the wires of the lie detector with her. "I will not stay here to be insulted for another moment!"

Once Una had stormed out of the room, Suzuka rapped Shun's head sharply.

"Nice going, you idiot," he grumbled, "I knew I should've asked Toro."

"What? No, look! Look at these excellent notes that I took!" he cried, shoving the screen in front of Suzuka's face.

"…I can hardly even read this. There are too many drawings."

"There better not be," Kayo said, taking the notes from Suzuka's hand. "There just has to be something that I'm missing about this case…"

"Don't think too hard," the old man chirped, "the answer is really quite simple. The inconsistency is quite blatant."

"If it's so easy," she said steely, "then why don't you tell me who killed Mr. Tendo?"

"But where's the fun in that?" the old man said innocently.

Suzuka narrowed his eyes. "Hey, if you know anything, under the law you are required to tell the police."

"Let her figure it out for herself, she won't get any better otherwise."

Before Suzuka could reply, Kayo stopped him and grinned. "I know who did it."

* * *

Again, Kayo stood before the Auroran scientists in the central conference room.

"I suppose that you are going to announce that we can leave," Carr said lazily.

"Yes, I am," Kayo replied politely.

"Couldn't find the murderer among us?" the red haired woman smirked.

"No, I did," Kayo said, smiling back.

"What?" The scientists straightened.

"That's impossible!" Moreau shouted.

"It's very possible."

"Was the lie detector wrong all this time?" Kurosawa said sharply.

"No, it was right. Or, it thought it was right," Kayo said calmly. "You see, the flaw with the lie detector is that it won't work if the person being subjected to it believes that he or she is telling the truth. The culprit used this to their advantage. Using the psychic probe, the culprit erased their own memories of the murder and any memories they could of planning the murder. Of course, memory removal is not perfect, especially not when they are trying to erase memories that spanned back years. They would've remembered eventually, but by then, they would off Earth. The flaw to this, of course, is when the imperfections of the removal affect the memories of the day itself, leading to inconsistencies within their alibi. Isn't that right," she glanced at the old woman, "Miss Una?"

"I didn't do it."

"You have been planning this out for years, haven't you?"

"I didn't do it."

"That's why when you tried to remove your memories, it was done faultily."

"I didn't do _it_."

"The process even pulled out part of today's memories."

"I _didn't_ do _it_."

"You forgot your medicine…"

"I _didn't do it_."

"You thought that the last booth you had visited was Mr. Artez's when in fact it was Mr. Tanna's…"

"I didn't do it!"

"I thought it was funny, how you who many claim to have one of the best memories among humans could forget things like that…"

"I didn't do it!" Una screeched, standing.

"Yes you did!" Kayo snapped back, "You're the memory specialist. You're the one who had the probe that was finely tuned for memories. There was no one else more capable than you to pull this off!" Her voice dropped into a threatening calm. "Why don't we attach you to the lie detector again? I highly doubt that you still can't remember what you did."

Una trembled. "The fool loved to wade in backwater too much," she said bitterly, "and I will never allow backwater to spill into my world."

"You're going to be living in 'backwater' for a long time," Suzuka said calmly.

At that moment, Kayo could've sworn that she felt something being sucked from the air.

* * *

"That wasn't bad," the old man commented. "I solved the case before you, of course, but other than that, you did a decent job."

"Um, thanks?" Kayo grumbled.

"The meal wasn't the finest I have ever had, but it was serviceable."

"Wait," she looked at the old man quizzically, "when did you eat?"

"They didn't seem to look upon Earth very well," the old man said, ignoring Kayo.

"No, I guess that's what happens when a planet falls behind," she sighed. "Everyone that's ahead of you will just keep pulling ahead and the ones that are behind fall back further. Besides, it's unfair. They live for so long, but…on Earth, we live to one hundred if we're lucky."

"Don't complain, evolve," the old man said. "Besides, a long life isn't always a good thing. With so much time, they stagnate. In the end, it will be those who live a short life who will pursue evolution more quickly as death is on their heels." He smiled. "It will be humans on Earth who will go the farthest. Perhaps you will surpass even demons?"

Kayo frowned. "Hey, I know humans can be evil, but don't compare humans to demons."

"It was a compliment, Yako."

Kayo stared, startled. "My name isn't Yako."

"Isn't it?" the old man glanced at her and grinned. "You change every time, but at the core, you are the same."

"What are you—"

"Well then, I bid you farewell," the old man nodded his head briefly, surprising Kayo with this display of respect. "Thank you for the many meals you have provided me. Well, I suppose I should just thank you for being here all these times."

Kayo blinked.

She stared at empty air.

"What the…? Where'd Neuro go?" she mumbled.

Kayo paused.

Who was Neuro?

* * *

And old man wandered the streets alone.

He was a stranger, but he seemed strangely assured in his steps as he turned into an empty building. The old shopping district that awaited demolition.

Years and years ago, legend said, a young girl opened a detective's office on the same spot.

The old man walked about the building, his footsteps ringing loudly in the silence.

His steps slowed and he entered a room which overlooked the streets. There were thick layers of dust covering the floor.

"My how things have changed," he mumbled. "Too bad I won't be able to see the end of things." He slowly sat down and leaned against the wall.

_Crack._

"Too bad I won't be back."

_Crack._

"I think I would've enjoyed…"

_Crack._

"…living life in bursts…"

_Crack._

"…rather than burning it out slowly."

_Crack._

"Humans," he chuckled.

_Crack._

"In the end…she outlived me."

_Crack._

And then there was no man.

Only dust.

* * *

A/N: This took way too long.


End file.
